Passion
by Mine6Chan
Summary: How Cloud met Zack, Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal, and how they changed his life at ShinRa from better to worse, and from worse to better.  eventual ASGZC
1. Chapter 1

**Passion**

Cloud turned corner after corner as he rushed down the halls. Classes, training, and guard duty were over for the day and Cloud had promised his new friend, _a SOLDIER of all things_, too meet up with him to go out and eat. It didn't help that Cloud was running almost an hour late thanks to his "_super friendly"_ and "_wonderful"_ fellow classmates. The idiots had ganged up on him in the shower and Cloud now had new and colourful bruises to show. However, they had been kind enough to spare his face so Cloud figured that if he dressed in long sleeves that Zack, his new _SOLDIER_ friend, would be none the wiser. To Clouds utter surprise Zack had turned out to be one of those guys who got fiercely protective over their friends, even if they were low ranking soldiers in their first year of training like Cloud, and Cloud knew that if Zack found out he got beat up on a regular basis that he'd try to do something about it and in the end get Cloud into more trouble.

Cloud let out the breath he'd been holding when he realised that he was the first one to make it back to the quarters and changed in a hurry. Not all of his bunkmates were assholes, but the one who had made it his mission in life to make Cloud's life as miserable as possible shared the room with him and Cloud tried to avoid him at all costs. The guy's first name was Mack but he hadn't been part of the gang that had beat him up in the showers.

Cloud sat on his bed and took a moment to calm himself down. He'd already been by the infirmary, he was a regular visitor by now, and acquired a potion to help with the pain. He'd actually been lucky that all they had done was hit him. As one of the smaller, leaner and prettier soldiers around Cloud often found himself on the receiving end of lustful gazes and other more _physical_ advances. In the year he'd been at ShinRa he'd already been cornered and almost raped about a handful of times. It had been worst the first couple of moths when Cloud had had no training in any sort of combat what-so-ever, and had been utterly defenceless against guys almost twice his size. He'd relied on his roommates, the nicer ones, for protection then and also on his Sergeant who had decided that, Cloud looking as he did, would need to be looked after. But by now Cloud was good enough in hand to hand combat that he could look out after himself, however, that didn't mean he could avoid a beating when an entire group had ganged up on him.

The sound of the door to the quarters opening had Cloud jumping up on his feet and he tensed as he waited for whomever it was to enter. He unclenched his fists when Zeck, who was the complete opposite of Zack, entered. The dirty blond nodded his head at Cloud and Cloud nodded back. Normally the room would have been full of cadets groaning, bickering, studying, yelling and nursing aches but they'd been granted leave for the weekend and most of them had already left the compound to head to the Slums.

Cloud put his stuff in his pockets and with a wave and a "See ya later" to Zeck left the building. His little break in his room had added another 10 minutes and completed the one hour he was running late. Cloud hoped Zack would still be waiting for him even though Cloud didn't think so, and wouldn't blame the guy for not sticking around for an hour waiting for a lowly cadet. Especially one he'd met only a couple of months ago, although they met regularly in one of the training rooms where Zack taught him how to use the buster sword. (Cloud had been so grateful when Zack had offered to teach him since he was so far behinds his classmates it wasn't even funny that he could have cried.)

Cloud neared the fountain they'd (Zack) decided to meet up at when they'd (Zack) decided to go out. He was surprised when he spotted him lying down on a bench. Cloud had been convinced the other would have left long ago.

"Sorry I'm late."

"Spikey!" Zack cried out and jumped to his feet. He threw an arm around Cloud's shoulders and proceeded to mess with his hair. "What's the big deal making me wait for over almost an hour! I thought you'd stood me up or something. I was starting to feel sorry for myself being dumbed by a cute blond."

Cloud tried to escape from Zack's hold but as always it turned out to be a pointless struggle. "Sorry, Zack. Classes ended late and I had to take a shower. I'm really sorry." Cloud apologised and decided to use a trick he'd only just gotten comfortable with using on the SOLDIER. He pulled out his lower lip, leaned his head down and looked up through his bangs at the other with the biggest eyes he could make. The wind picked up and stung his eyes making them water giving him the biggest and saddest puppy eyes ever seen.

Zack melted. "Aw! Of course I'm not mad at you, Spikey!" Zack pulled Cloud into his arms and hugged him tight as he rubbed his cheek on top of soft chocobo-hair, missing the way Cloud flinched as Zack touched his bruised body. He drew back after a couple of minutes only to grab Cloud by the hand and pull him in the direction of the train. "Come on! I've wanted to take you to this place for a while now. They have the best barbecue! You'll love it! My treat!"

As Zack dropped into his usual conversations about everything between heaven and earth Cloud found himself relaxing in the company of his friend. It had taken him a while to get over the whole I'm-your-superior-SOLDIER-Leuitenant-thing and to learn to see Zack as a friend. It didn't help that Cloud wasn't a very sociable and outgoing person otherwise, but slowly but surely he was opening op. When Cloud had first smiled at him, Zack had wanted to shout to the skies in joy but had refrained from doing so and had simply smiled back with teeth and all.

When the SOLDIER had first seen the cadet he had seriously thought there'd been a chocobo loose in the building. He'd seen him from behind and being shorter than everybody else the cadet's hair had been the first thing he'd spotted. Zack had followed him, wondering why no one else was reacting to a chocobo running around amongst the cadets and had followed him to one of the training rooms where he'd been surprised to see that the chocobo was actually a cadet. A small, blond and pretty cadet with the bluest eyes ever! Zack had stayed in the training room and once training had ended he'd come up with a way to befriend the boy. He had approached slowly. Worried that any sudden movements might scare him away like some wild chocobo.

Zack couldn't wait to introduce him to the others but for now he was more than happy to have the cute and adorable cadet all to himself, (even if the cute and adorable cadet would have made a fuzz about being called cute and adorable which would only have made him even more cute and adorable).

Zack smiled and speed up, tugging his little chocobo behind him.

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**A/N: Never written a Final Fantasy fic before. Haven't played the game(s) either. Well, I'm actually halfway through Crisis Core but I don't think that counts as much, I can't seem to defeat Genesis Avatar, or Avatar Genesis or whatever (the stupid asshole, I want him dead!). What I know is actually mostly from other stories on here (and the movie) so I'm sorry if things turn out horribly wrong. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Passion**

It had been couple of weeks since Zack had dragged Cloud out to eat the "best damn barbecue you've ever had", and Cloud be damned if it hadn't been the best damn barbecue he'd ever had. Not that he'd tell Zack that or he'd never hear the end of it. It was this thing they had, where Zack would show Cloud something he was sure to love and Cloud disagreed even if he _did_ love it.

They'd grown closer. Cloud no longer felt like unworthy of Zack's friendship or like he was being a charity case, (something else he would never tell Zack for fear of hurting his feelings). With the help of Zack, Cloud had not only become more skilled in combat but he was also starting to become more confident in himself. Some of his classmates and roommates had commented that he seemed to have changed some. He was more open now. Took part in friendly banter, jokes and no longer kept himself hidden away in the library all to himself.

Jedd had talked to him about it one time when they'd been studying for the upcoming Materia-test together. Cloud had simply shrugged and given a small smile but inside he was feeling better than ever. Even the bullying had lessened although he still got cornered once in a while, but now he was fighting back harder and ending up with less bruises thanks to Zack's mentoring.

However, it was also thanks to Zack and him abusing their friendship (Cloud could never say no when Zack brought out the "We're friends, right?" speech) that Cloud was now on his way to Commander Raphsodos office loaded with files, documents and reports that the Commander needed to look through. To say that Cloud was nervous as he rode the elevator up to right floor would have been an understatement. Cloud was terrified as in fearing-for-his-life-terrified. Commander Raphsodos had a reputation for not taking too well to he people who brought him paperwork. There were stories of cadets, just like him, ending up in the infirmary with very serious burns and scarred for life. And no matter how hard Zack had tried to reassure Cloud that "Gen-Gen" (Cloud had expected a ball of fire to come flying towards them at that point) was a nice guy and not to worry, Cloud was still shaking in fear with his pulse through the roof.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Cloud swallowed hard and took the first step out of the safety of the elevator. He approached the woman sitting behind the desk and waited for her to acknowledge her.

_Chris._ His mind told him in Zack's overly happy puppy-voice.

"What can I do for you, soldier?" Chris asked. She eyed the cadet standing in front of her and held back the smile that threatened to break out at the sight of the prettiest soldier she'd ever seen standing before her on the verge of running the other way in tears.

"I... These are for Commander Raphsodos." he said and motioned towards the stack of papers in his hands.

"Oh my. The Commander isn't going to like this." Chris said mostly to herself but Cloud heard her. Chris noticed and smiled at him. "The Commander is busy with a phone call at the moment so you have a couple of minutes to calm down soldier."

Cloud blinked huge blue eyes at her before he smile shyly and blushed. Chris found herself blushing and smiling back.

When Cloud was finally called into the Commander's office he did so calmer but still fearing for his wellbeing.

"Excuse me, sir. I was told to drop off these documents, sir." Cloud said as he walked up to the desk.

For his part Genesis had not taken his eyes off of the cadet since he'd entered and now he was standing just on the other side of his desk. _It's a chocobo. _Genesis thought with glee as he took in the spiky blond hair, the cream coloured skin and the bluest eyes he'd even seen.

Genesis stared and Cloud got nervous. He swallowed hard and opened his mouth. "Where should I place them, sir?"

"What?"

"The documents, sir."

Genesis shook his head. "...On the desk."

Cloud lowered his gaze to the desk. There wasn't a single surface on the wood that was not covered in stacks of papers. Cloud shot a quick look at the Commander before he decided to place the documents he was holding on the smallest pile of papers he could find. He let his hands hover over the papers for a second, fearing they would tip over but when nothing happened he drew back his hands and waited to be dismissed. Minutes passed and Genesis did nothing but stare.

"Permission to be dismissed, sir." Cloud finally said, proud that his voice had betrayed nothing of the panic he felt inside.

"Oh... Sure."

Cloud saluted the Commander before he hightailed it out of there. Zack owed him big time.

Genesis had not stopped staring at the cadet even for one second and when Cloud slipped out through the doors again Genesis still sat staring at the doors. Slowly but surely a very rare grin spread on his face. He gathered his things quickly, grabbed a random bunch of papers and sort of, but not quite, ran out of his office. He ignored the elevator and instead took the emergency stairs as he moved from one building to another. Swiping his keycard and punching in the code faster than the eye could follow, if you weren't SOLDIER, Genesis entered the apartment. He toed off one boot and then jumped down the hallway looking for Zack.

Zack had been heating food Angeal had left them when the frontdoor had opened followed by strange noises not usually associated with the other three that had keys to Genesis' apartment. He stuck his head out and couldn't help but laugh as he spotted Genesis hoping on one leg trying to get his other boot off with a stack of papers under his arm that were falling to the ground one by one.

"Zack! Zack! I met a _chocobo_ today!"

Zack couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, I know."

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**A/N: Okay, so I have this image of Genesis being one way when it comes to being the front image of the military, cold, cruel, etc., and then sort of a completely different person in private to the extreme. I'm a bit worried I that I haven't and won't be able to capture their personalities. I hope they're not too out of character.**

**And thank you GabesGurl for being my first review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Passion**

"So his name is Cloud Strife?" Genesis asked as he took another bite out of the food Zack had heated up for him.

"Yeah, he's a cadet from the lower ranks. I spotted him a while ago, thought he was a chocobo actually, and got to know him."

They were both sitting at the dinner table eating food Angeal had prepared for them before he and Sephiroth had left for their mission. While Zack was still dressed in the customary outfit for SOLDIERs, Genesis had changed into a pair of lose an comfortable pants and a longsleeved shirt that was a size too big for him. Zack smiled at the change in Genesis from the cold Commander to the almost spoiled brat he became in the privacy and presence of his three lovers.

"I can't believe you've been keeping this a secret!"

"You would have insisted I introduce him to you, Gen! The poor guy would have had a heart attack or something."

Genesis crossed his arms over his chest, actually pouting. "But you sent him today, didn't you?"

Zack moved over to the fridge and got out the ice-cream and a spoon. "He's gotten more confident of himself, thanks to yours truly!" Zack beamed and held up a scoop of chocolate and strawberry ice-cream for Genesis.

Genesis leaned forwards and closed his lips around the spoon. "Right, you probably bullied him until he had enough and blew up in your face."

Genesis reached out an arm and whipped the ice-cream from the corner of Zack's mouth before licking his finger. Zack puffed out his chest and the soft pink colouring on his cheeks gave away the fact that that was exactly what Cloud had done.

Genesis reached over and grabbed the ice-cream out of Zack's hands. Zack protested loudly but did nothing to take back the delicious goody. While Zack might be the youngest of the four, Genesis was the one who acted the most like a kid in the private of their rooms and Zack loved to spoil and pamper the redhead. Usually he was the one looked after outside of their apartments.

"I still can't believe you kept him from me. A chocobo, Zack! It was like my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one and he's _so_ cute!" Genesis actually squealed but would never admit.

"So you like him?" Zack asked looking like the puppy Angeal so often thought him to be.

"Mmmm." Genesis moaned, and not from the spoonful of ice-cream he'd just shoved into his mouth.

"...You think Sephiroth and Angeal will like him?"

The question was made with so much hesitation that Genesis stopped his erotic play with the spoon and looked over at Zack to watch him fidget in his seat.

"You're in love with him."

Zack's head shot up to look at Genesis with wide eyes. "I love _you_!"

"I know. But you love him too, don't you?"

Zack lowered his head to hide his blush. Genesis got up from his seat and moved behind the other. He wrapped his arms over Zack's shoulders and leaned down to lay his chin on the other's neck. Zack raised his arms to wrap them around the redhead the best he could and moved his head to the side to place a kiss Genesis cheek.

"Invite him over." Genesis mumbled.

"What?"

"You love him. I liked him. He was cute. Invite him over for pizza or something. I think the cadets have this weekend off." Genesis said the last a bit unsure. Until this moment he'd never had any reason to be interested in the cadets.

In response to his idea Zack turned his head and with a hold on Genesis hair sought the other's lips. Genesis tasted sweet just like the ice-cream he had been gorging himself in but underneath it there was a taste that was purely Genesis. It was spicy and light and so very very addicting. Zack ran his tongue over Genesis lower lip and then rubbed it against the other's tongue as Genesis parted his lips. Zack pulled and caressed, moving his hand in Genesis hair down his neck and under his shirt. The younger of the two moved to sit sideways in the chair and soon he had the elder straddling his thigh as he drank from his Commander's lips. But not even SOLDIERs could hold their breaths forever and they had to part. Genesis was grinning. Zack frowned and licked at his Commander's lips again and again, running his hands over the other's stomach and lower back under his shirt until the man kissed Zack long and hard, fisting his hands in the other's dark hair and moaning. Genesis pulled back and looked down at the other. All traces of the childish man from before had disappeared and instead there was a heated look in his eyes that spoke of promises. Zack shivered.

"So you'll invite him over so I get to meet him properly?"

Zack nodded and tried to reach Genesis lips once again with his own, but Genesis pulled back and instead Zack settled for tracing his lips and tongue over the skin on his older lover's neck.

"Good. I really want to see the chocobo again." Genesis said but then broke out into a moan as Zack dug his teeth into a weak spot. "Let's move to the bedroom." Genesis ordered and Zack moved to follow his command like a good (and _eager_) soldier.

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**A/N: I had no idea this was going to happen when I started the chapter! It was like Zack and Genesis rebelled on me or something! … But now that I've taken things this far I wonder if I should taken them _further_? If I do I'll have to raise the rating. **

**I've gotten a lot of hits and "so-and-so has added your story to his/her favourite story/story alert list." Thank you! People are actually reading this XD I hope you guys like it. I don't know since I don't get many reviews but I guess all the hits on the second chapter means that you guys like it?**

**(can you tell I'm milking for reviews? ;P)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Passion**

Commander Hewley was well liked by all. Apart from being a man of great pride and honour, he was known for being a man of great patience. He had to be.

But even a man such as himself, or perhaps _because_ he was a man such as he was, Angeal felt rage start a fire deep in his chest at the sight before him that made the blood in his veins turn to ice.

He'd turned a corner, on his way to the ShinRa apartment buildings, when he'd heard the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh. Curious, upset and angered at the obvious signs of a fight Angeal had headed down the alley the sounds were coming from.

There were three of them. Cadets. Upon another one. Also a cadet.

The three cadets had the fourth one on his knees with his face pushed into the pavement. While one held him the other two were working on his pants, pushing them down over his ass to his knees.

"_What _do you thing you're _doing_!" Angeal growled darkly.

Three heads turned to stare at him with shocked and terrified looks on their faces. Three pairs of hands let go of their victim and the cadets rushed to the feet in such a hurry they stumbled into each other.

"Speak up!" Angeal ordered.

"I-I-I... W-we... n-nothing, s-s-sir!"

Angeal saw red.

The cadet that had spoken crashed into the side of the building at the backhand he received. No one had even seen the Commander move. The other two barely managed to follow the fall of their comrade with eyes full of terror before they too were pushed up against the wall by hands on their throats squeezing hard.

"You're reporting to your Sergeant immediately! If you don't, there won't be a fucking shit-hole on this fucking planet for you to hide in! _Understood_!"

Hands released their holds on throats and the cadets gasped in air. The two cadets grabbed their fallen comrade and ran towards the military building. They did not dare disobey. The Commander's glowing mako eyes had spoken of painful promises. Of hurt, darkness, suffering, and blood. Lots and lots of blood.

Angeal watched them go. His fists clenching and unclenching tightly at his sides. Angeal Hewley was not a man of reckless violence, but at that moment he'd wanted nothing more than to crush the men's windpipes under his hands.

A hiss and a curse reminded him that there was a fourth.

Angeal spun around to take in the victim. The cadet was short, his hair covered in mud and slime (and was that blood?) and plastered to the sides of his head. The man, (boy), had managed to get himself up on his feet and had pulled up his pants. Angeal noticed how he rested against the wall and how he held his side with his arm.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine now, sir... Thank you." the short cadets spoke and looked up. Angeal noticed that his eyes were blood shot and as he took in more of the other he started to noticed the cuts and bruises on every visible part of his skin. There was even bruises in the shape of hands around his throat and Angeal momentarily regretted his decision of letting the others live.

_I should have broken their necks. _Angeal narrowed his eyes at the thought.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes, sir."

"...Good... I'll take you to the infirmary."

Angeal began to walk, slowly, and waited for the sound of footsteps following him. He nodded to himself and took out his PHS. After a detailed but short message to the General he pocketed the device once again and continued their walk in silence. The grounds were never really empty of ShinRa soldiers and as they walked the pair got more than a couple of looks from passing people. In Angeal's mind they could not have reached the infirmary fast enough and once there told the nurse that the cadet was to be given a private room for the night, a full examination as well as materia for his injuries.

The nurse immediately set off to comply to his orders and ushered them into an empty room. Once inside Angeal stayed with the cadet until a doctor arrived. Neither had spoken a single word. The cadet, Strife. C, did not appear too upset about his situation but Angeal could not be sure and felt it best to leave things to the professionals.

The Commander's trip back to his apartment passed by in a blink. Angeal was loath to admit but he had wanted to leave the cadet as soon a possible. The door closed behind him with a click and Angeal was left standing in the dark of his hallway. He'd lost his appetite, his plans for dinner spoiled, and headed towards the bathroom. He needed to wash the off the dirt.

He left his clothes in a heap on the floor and entered the bathroom. As he stepped under the strong spray of almost too hot water Angeal missed the sound from his PHS as he received a message confirming that what he'd requested had been done.

Not long after Angeal was joined in the shower by the only man more powerful than him. Soft calloused hands rubbed his shoulders and helped ease the tension. Angeal turned, wrapped his arms around a well-defined chest and leaned his forehead on a shoulder covered by strands of silver hair.

The soft hands continued to glide down Angeal's back.

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**A/N: I really should move the rating up to M. But I'm not sure I'll ever write a full scene of one of those moments. What do you guys think? **

**And I can't believe how mean I'm being to Cloud! I did _not_ mean for this to happen! I swear! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Passion**

When Angeal had not answered to his message Sephiroth had become slightly worried and had headed to the man's apartment as fast as possible. While Angeal was probably the best person to have around during an emergency he was, for all his confidence and strengths, not good at handling other's emotions.

It did not help that what had happened last night brought back memories of another time where Angeal had failed to save the other person. Sephiroth remembered that time almost a year ago when Angeal had returned from a mission and had been a complete mess. It had taken his then two lovers days to find out what had happened and had learned that Angeal had found a woman being raped. She had later killed herself unable to live with the what had happened to her. Angeal had taken it hard and saw it as a failure on his part for not being able to save her.

Sephiroth looked down at the man lying on his lap while he ran his hands through the dark hair. He'd tried his best at soothing his lover but Sephiroth was not the expert at these kinds of things. Sadly, Zack had left Midgar this morning and wasn't due back for a week or so. And Genesis wasn't expected to return until tomorrow.

Sephiroth leaned into the pillows, closed his eyes and thought back to the three cadets he'd found in Sergeant Mc'Donnel's office. ShinRa had a very hard policy on things like these. Mostly because it tarnished ShinRa's reputation more than anything and so whenever a situation such as this arose, ShinRa took great care in making the problem disappear. That's what Sephiroth had done with the three cadets.

Before he'd fallen asleep Angeal had told Sephiroth he'd taken the other cadet to the infirmary and Sephiroth knew that the doctor Angeal had informed would take care of the situation on his end.

When morning came Sephiroth woke up to an empty bed and the smell of breakfast. There was also a readhead tucked neatly into his side. Sephiroth decided it wasn't such a bad way to wake up even though he'd preferred it if there'd been three other bodies in bed with him instead of just one.

Sephiroth, not one to fall back to sleep after waking up in the mornings or prone to just lying in bed, even with a lover next to him, slid quietly out of the bed and walked through the apartment towards the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway to look the other man over.

If Sephiroth had not been there yesterday he would never even have guessed Angeal had been upset. There were no signs of the depression or the guilt he'd shown yesterday and he hummed as he moved around the kitchen preparing breakfast for the three of them.

Sephiroth moved from the doorway and stepped up behind him, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his cheek into the other's shoulder. Angeal stopped his movements and smiled. Sephiroth was always prone to cuddling in the mornings. Angeal placed a hand over the hands clasped on his stomach.

"Fuck you assholes leaving me alone in bed. I had the shittiest mission ever." Genesis whined as he appeared with a blanket and patches of dirt on his skin and hair. He then proceeded to attach himself to Sephiroth's back.

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**A/N: I try to involve everyone even if I only have one, two or three characters. I really want it to look like they're in a real relationship of four people who all care for and love each other, and that they're not just in it for the sex. **

**By the way, since I don't really have a plan for this story. It just sort of happened. Is there anything you guys would like to have in it? Like a moment with something or of something, or something you would like to see happen? Apart from the five of them getting together, that is. We're getting there, I promise. **

**Also, I try to tell me myself that I'm not one of those writers who check their stories every hour or so for reviews but who am I kidding? I'm a review-slut... so could you guys please give me more?**


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